Orfeo Suárez Majadahonda

Majadahonda

Updated Monday, April 1, 2024-22:37

  • Jorge Casado "Cheikh is the victim, like Vinicius, not the other way around"

  • Racism Vinicius asks for prison for racists after the "three despicable cases"

  • Playing with a disadvantage "They must work harder so it doesn't affect them"

Ask for a little time, because it is time to break the Ramadan fast. The light goes out at the Rayo Majadahonda stadium, where some parents wait for their children's training.

Cheikh Kane Sarr

(Dakar, 2000) enters the club offices. He is a young man with a scared face. He speaks with pauses, but clearly and with a clear look. Only after the first few minutes does he smile. He still has not digested the fact of being one of the most sought after people by the media, when just 72 hours ago he was an anonymous footballer, who was beginning to find ownership in his team after a diaspora through modest clubs in search of glory. He then heard something like an explosion in his head, just as he bent down to pick up a bottle, at the Las Llanas stadium, in Sestao. He sits down and agrees to explain for the first time, to EL MUNDO, the events that he experienced and wants to forget, and the suffering that lies under his skin.

To know more

The clause.

Spain agrees with Vinicius with racism

  • Editor: IÑAKO DÍAZ-GUERRA

Spain agrees with Vinicius with racism

Explain what exactly happened. In the second part when we changed fields, I already started to notice some screams. In the 50th minute they started making monkey, ape sounds. In '82, after conceding the second goal, I went to get water to drink. Then I heard everything: "Fucking nigger, fucking black." Before this there were many other people who insulted, not only me, they also insulted the Spanish, many people. But then I heard this man. And he jumped into the stands. Yes. I couldn't take it anymore. He was very nervous. He had heard the screams. I'm in Ramadan... I wanted to ask him why he treated me like that, whether or not he had a family and could understand me. I had no intention of attacking him at all, at all. That's why I grabbed him by the scarf. How was I going to hit him? I have never attacked anyone. If they sanction me, this will be the first sanction I have in my life. Then your companions, the captain, arrived... Yes, and I thank them for doing so, although I would not have hit anyone. Did the people want to attack you? When I was trying to talk to this man who had insulted me, they came and pushed me. That's when my colleagues arrived. They have done a lot for me these days and have treated me with affection, also at the club, everyone. The referee [Gracia Riesco] wrote in the minutes that you approached him with the intention of attacking him. Please. What I wanted was to ask him for explanations. Ask him why he gave me a red card. The truth is, it cannot be that someone who is insulted and suffers will also be punished. I don't know what will happen with the Competition Committee's decision, but I would like them to think about this. No one who is insulted can be punished for reacting. I insist. It wasn't violence, it was wanting to talk. Furthermore, the referee didn't even come up to ask me what had happened. How can that be? Honestly, I thought the first thing he was going to do was protect me, but no. What he did was expel me.

"More microphones, more cameras and tougher penalties are needed"

He seems very excited when he sees the red one. Well, of course, how can I not be? But I'm not trying to attack him at all, I just want an explanation. I am sure that if it had been a LaLiga, First Division match, I would have acted differently. You arrived in Spain at the age of 18, when you were almost a youth player, and you have gone through many teams before arriving at Rayo Majadahonda [Nàstic, Recreativo Granada, Castellón, Vetusta de Oviedo]. Has it happened to you more times? The truth is that I only remember one time, I think it was at the Socuéllamos field, when they said some things, but it had nothing to do with what happened this time. Vinicius said that Spain is a racist country. Do you believe it too? I believe that there is racism in all countries, but that does not mean that the countries are racism as a whole. It is these people who must be removed from the camps and punished in society and protected by those of us who may have suffered from it. What do you think should be done to eradicate racist behavior from the camps? More microphones, more cameras, more media and tougher sanctions. I think that more things can be done from the federations and the League.

"They called me from Senegal, scared. 'What happened?'"

When you left Senegal and were pursuing the dream of your life, to succeed in Europe, did you think you could go through a situation like this? The truth is that when you live in Africa and decide to leave, you know that you must be prepared for everything. But until you experience racism you don't know how much it suffers. There have been many important people who have shown their support, one of the first Vinicius... I'm not much of a social networker, to be honest, and even less so on a day like today. But I appreciate it and I believe that if important people with our skin react and show firmness, that will help a lot in the fight and will give us strength. Has the news reached your country? To all of Africa. It was one of the things that worried me the most, for my mother, for my daughter, who I have to protect from all this, from racism. My nephews are the ones who found out first. They called me from Senegal, scared. "What happened?" they asked me. I have tried to reassure them, of course, but it hurts me for them. They suffer with me.